Swiss bank account / Swiss registered company

newmug

Hi folks.

Does anyone here know how to set up a Swiss bank account or register a company in Switzerland? Like everyone, I want to protect my money, and there's a real threat that the country will go bust. I want my few quid as safely hidden away as possible. Has anyone any experience of it or know of anyone who might help with this kind of thing?

Doom

I will mind it for you, honest

Doom

Seriously, is any Irish bank a safe bet? I'm with PTSB, they haven't got any government bailouts, Yet!
Would Rabobank be safer? I think its Dutch owned, anyone with them?

antoinolachtnai

Well, if you ring any of the swiss banks, they will open an account for you. You'd better have 100k+ though.

You can register a company in Switzerland, but if you don't have 1m euros a year turnover to put through it at the very minimum, I wouldn't bother.

Rabobank is an option. NIB is another. Ulster Bank is rooted in the UK and is basically owned by the British taxpayer. IIB, a dutch bank now has some deposit facilities.

If you are concerned about the state of the euro as well as the Irish banks and economy, you would need to switch into another currency. Possible, but will cost you. when you change into the other currency and again when you change back.

If you have spare cash you could buy assets like commodities or real estate. If you have ready cash to buy city centre property in Dublin, for instance, you will always be able to sell it and get an income from it, even if it depreciates somewhat.

newmug

You mention buying commodities, how do you do that?

antoinolachtnai

Well, you can buy gold ingots or something like that and actually hold them yourself if you want to. You can also buy them through various services, there are plenty advertised on Google. However, you don't necessarily get to hold the asset yourself, it's far away in a warehouse somewhere (which is probably just as well, you probably wouldn't want to store wheat or bulk crude oil in the spare room anyway). More technically, you can buy commodity futures.

newmug

Thats what I was thinking, buying commodities doesn't mean going down to the local Maxol with as many empty drums as you can get. But I wouldn't know who to trust on the internet. I'd love to buy a gold ingot and keep it myself in the safe room at home, but how would you know what you bought was pure, or that the weight was right, or that the price you bought it at wasn't a rip-off? These are the things I'd be worried about. And how would you sell it again?

Big Mouth

newmug wrote: »

Thats what I was thinking, buying commodities doesn't mean going down to the local Maxol with as many empty drums as you can get. But I wouldn't know who to trust on the internet. I'd love to buy a gold ingot and keep it myself in the safe room at home, but how would you know what you bought was pure, or that the weight was right, or that the price you bought it at wasn't a rip-off? These are the things I'd be worried about. And how would you sell it again?

Judging by your replies I'd say you would be okay with leaving your money in the post office

Why would you need a Swiss bank account when you could move your money to a foreign owned bank, as one poster has mentioned above?

The fact you don't know that or anything about commodities leads me to believe you haven't got more than two bob in your account and you're hoping to impress somebody by having a Swiss bank account.

newmug

Big Mouth wrote: »

Judging by your replies I'd say you would be okay with leaving your money in the post office

Why would you need a Swiss bank account when you could move your money to a foreign owned bank, as one poster has mentioned above?

The fact you don't know that or anything about commodities leads me to believe you haven't got more than two bob in your account and you're hoping to impress somebody by having a Swiss bank account.

Judging by your reply, you need a window in your stomach.

Asok

You don't actually need 100k to open an account in Switzerland if you are a non resident this only applies to opening the account remotely / over the phone. If you go to the bank in person you can open one if you are going to deposit 25k and upwards.

This is the case with UBS so if you are under the 100k mark just grab a flight to Geneva or Zurich and go to one of the larger branches there. You can also ring them to make an appointment to see someone for the day you are there and is what I would recommend to ensure they get everything sorted in one day.

I have only used UBS but I have to say their online banking is fantastic and a big perk.

EDIT: I should also mention they will open the account in any currency you want and commonly people will open both a euro and swiss franc account as there is no real extra cost to it.

newmug

Asok wrote: »

You don't actually need 100k to open an account in Switzerland if you are a non resident this only applies to opening the account remotely / over the phone. If you go to the bank in person you can open one if you are going to deposit 25k and upwards.

This is the case with UBS so if you are under the 100k mark just grab a flight to Geneva or Zurich and go to one of the larger branches there. You can also ring them to make an appointment to see someone for the day you are there and is what I would recommend to ensure they get everything sorted in one day.

I have only used UBS but I have to say their online banking is fantastic and a big perk.

EDIT: I should also mention they will open the account in any currency you want and commonly people will open both a euro and swiss franc account as there is no real extra cost to it.

Excellent stuff Asok, thats exactly the helpful kind of info I was looking for! So what might you need to bring? A few ID's, proof of address, verification that you actually have the money in your own Irish bank? Roughly how much does it cost to set up?

Asok

A passport is all you really need with UBS, As for costs I'm not 100% as I have a resident account and the charges are a little different. They don't ask for proof you have the cash but if you want to bring proof it can't hurt.

I'd recommend you give them a call and they can tell you what they will look for and the charges, they will speak english in most cases and are usually very helpful (Its a big change from banks back home )

maxwell smart

What info on source of funds do the Swiss Banks want? Can you just walk in with a 100,000 and open an account?

Asok

You will need to guarentee that it was not sourced via illegal means but as far as I know this is just you signing a declaration, to be honest I'm not 100% on it.